


Red or Black

by VigorousSpring



Series: Kuroshitsuji: Angels & Demons [3]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-19 03:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3594900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VigorousSpring/pseuds/VigorousSpring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One reaper down, how will things progress?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**I was a butler serving the brightest, strongest woman I had ever met. Madam Red, or Angelina Dalles as I knew her as - in private, at least.**

Angelina Dalles and Lau are searching through various shelves and drawers while Grell is kneeling on the floor behind a sofa. The door opens and he sits up. 

**This was how I met Sebastian. It took me longer than I'm proud of to realise his true identity, but at least he didn't discover mine until later. That was a day I'd rather forget.**

Grell pulls his bow from his hair and brushes it, the dark brown locks fading into bright red. He switches his white butler gloves for standard black reaper ones. 

**I thought I'd won. I slashed him with my scythe, I cut deep into his arm. But he turned it round on me.**

Sebastian approaches Grell, preparing to attack him with his own scythe as he tears his ripped coat from it. It springs back to life. 

**I thought I was going to die.**

Grell gasps as he hits the floor. He tries to back away, sliding himself on the floor away from him, but he wasn't moving quick enough.

**But I didn't.**

Grell has his eyes squeezed shut at this point, but he looks across slowly when he hears the clanging of metal. 

"I've come to claim that reaper there." 

**I was saved. He saved me. And this wasn't the only time.**

"Do you realise what may happen to you?" 

"I deserve anything they throw at me." 

"I don't think you quite understand." 

**They could have had me executed. They nearly did, but Will spoke on my behalf. He put his career on the line for me. I could never repay him for that.**

**I should have tried harder.**


	2. Chapter 2

The temperature in the Dispatch Offices dropped by at least ten degrees. It took time for the news to sink in. Some reapers just wanted to run home and cry. Some of them felt their blood boil. 

"Are you okay?" One concerned voice asked. 

"Of course." William replied. It was a complete lie of course, but no-one needed to know that. It was never easy to lose a fellow reaper. Grell Sutcliff was certainly not the most efficient at paperwork or... basic politeness but, contrary to popular belief, he was most certainly a deadly efficient reaper. It would be difficult to find a worthy replacement. 

"We still don't know exactly how these demons are able to travel to our realm, but at this point it doesn't matter. I realise this is not what you were trained for, none of you have to do this, if you don't want to. And you can change your mind at any point. But as of now, we are at war."

 

Alan was sitting at a desk with two computer screens and a laptop. The first computer screen showed every possible entrance to the offices. If a demon found its way into their realm, it would be spotted. The second computer screen was currently blank. 

"As I said before, I would only be a liability if I came, but I can see what's going on from here. Once you enter the demon realm, someone will need to place this somewhere, anywhere. One you do, I will be able to track heat. I will be able to tell you if a demon is near." 

He then turned his attention to the laptop in the center of the desk. "I'll be able to contact you all through here."

Each reaper had an ear piece. This time they were making no mistakes. 

 

"Not every demon is against us." William explained. "The demons Sebastian and Kirito are with us, as much as I hate to admit it, they may prove useful. Ronald Knox is under their control, he may attack you, but you need to be aware this is against his will. 

"The two demons Jessie and Evangeline are currently accounted for. Those are the two you need to look out for." 

￼

Sebastian had done the demon equivalent of leaving the front door open for the reapers. 

On the other side, Kirito had approached Evangeline. "I'm sorry, can you explain this plan again? Others tried but I'm not convinced they really understand either."

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "Some people. Come over here, don't want the reaper overhearing us. Don't go anywhere. Okay so we have Grell's soul, his memories, and his body." She explained the not-so-complicated plan, with his phone dialed to Sebastian. 

￼"Thank you Kirito." He said with a smile before hanging up. "I'd hate to see how much credit he's used."

"He has a pay-as-you-go phone?" One of the other reapers asked in disbelief. "Sorry, not important."

 

￼

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured that if reapers had chainsaws and such in the Victorian era, it stands to reason that they would be even more advanced at this point. Really short I know. I've already written the next one and it's pretty long-ish so hopefully it'll make up for it. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy April Fool's Day! I genuinely had no idea until about 10 this morning.

**Note: So this is supposed to represent a montage, sort of. You know like in films? For this reason, the paragraphs will be shortish, but the chapter itself is quite long.**

**I never know my word count because my laptop has no word count - or page breaks. It's quite irritating really.**

_"Okay I've found a demon and a reaper - I imagine that's the Undertaker and Jessie."_ Alan zoomed out slightly. _"Further up, there are two demons and another reaper. That has to be Ronnie."_

William nodded his head. "Tell me where to go."

* * *

 

Jessie looked up as two other reapers entered the 'interrogation room'. "I don't recall sending out invitations."

* * *

Evangeline turned her head swiftly. "Something's not right. Keep an eye on him." She waved a hand and Ronald closed his eyes, falling into an unconscious stage. Evangeline was gone within seconds.

Kirito waited for a minute, ensuring the other had truly gone. When he was convinced it was safe...

"People are here for you. You're going to be fine."

When he was found, Ronald was standing perfectly still in the corner of the room, his eyes closed. Sebastian approached him slowly and waved a hand over his face. The reaper's eyes snapped open.

"Senpai! Are you alright? Where's Grell?"

Sebastian stook aside.

William took a deep breath. "Er... there's no easy way to say this-"

"Then don't say it." Ronald knew what was coming, he just knew. But saying it made it real. "How? How did it happen?"

William allowed himself a few seconds before answering as he briefly contemplated each possible way he could answer.

"You don't need to know the details." He felt that was the safer option. He placed a hand on Ronald's shoulder - he had witnessed others doing the same in this type of situation. He hadn't, however, expected a tight hug back.

"Ah." It took him a few moments to register what he was supposed to do. He began by placing one hand on the younger reaper's back. He placed his other hand slightly higher. "Listen... you know Grell. He wouldn't want to see you upset."

Ronald looked up and William wiped a stray tear from his cheek. "He'd want us to celebrate his life, not mourn his death."

"Why are you not crying?

"I will, when I am alone and no-one can see me."

"Why?"

"Well, because I'm supposed to be cold and stoic, aren't I?"

* * *

 

"I know you're there." Evangeline's voice echoed. "I can sense you."

"Good for you."

She span around quickly and found herself face to face with another reaper with his hair over one side. His death scythe seemed to be in the form of a saw.

"Ah, I don't appear to have my weapon."

"Oh well, let's improvise."

"You seem angry. Did I do something to upset you?"

"What do you think?"

Evangeline pulled herself back, as low to the floor as she could, as Eric's scythe glided over her.

* * *

Jessie felt his restraints losen slowly. The discussion the current reapers were having provided an excellent distraction.

"You know, some demons can move things with their minds"

* * *

 

_"I'm only reading Kirito and Sebastian near you, which I assume you know about... Ronnie, how are you?"_

"Alan? It's so good to hear you. I'm okay."

_"I'll believe that when I see it. Okay, you're safe to move."_

Alan gasped as a new signal appeared on the laptop screen. "What is that?"

_"There's something... I can't tell what it is. It's not a demon, neither is it a reaper."_

"Where is it?" William asked.

Alan paused. _"Er, do you want me to lead you to it to away from it?"_

William's first instinct was to investigate, but one look from Ronald Knox made him think otherwise.

The truth was, none of them had been trained for this. This was not a normal reaper thing to do, and William would not pretend he was okay with this.

"Away from. We secure the prisoner, we bring him back. We leave."

_"We're bringing him back with us? Are you sure that's wise."_

"We will be more careful this time."

* * *

 

Jessie was almost free, in fact he could have freed his hands if he had been willing to dislocate his wrists - he wasn't.

"Gotch'ya." One of the reapers said cheerfully, before approaching the demon.

He sighed. "Damn."

* * *

If anyone asked, Jessie had fought back. In all honesty, the Undertaker scared him - in all honesty, the Undertaker scared everyone.

Alan looked up, smiled, and waved when the demon was forced into the offices.

"Hi, nice to meet you. We've set up a secure cell, make yourself comfortable."

Jessie scowled.

* * *

 

They were at war. Still, they couldn't neglect their duties as death gods.

The sky was dark. There wasn't so much as a speck of sunlight between the grey and black clouds. It was going to rain. There was no doubt about that. Ronald was sitting at his desk, fiddling with his newer and, hopefully warmer, heat pads. These were supposed to last up to an hour, or at least that's what the packaging claimed.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

William entered carefully, about to speak.

"Yeah, I know, it's late. I'm trying!"

William held out a freshly filled hot water bottle. The rubber was clear so the water could be seen through it.

"I thought this might help."

Ronald let his shoulders drop. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." William entered the office and placed the hot water on the desk while taking a quick peak at how much paperwork had been done. There was a large pile of papers beside a significantly smaller pile that had actually been filled.

"Not writing very well?"

Ronald shook his head, taking the hot water bottle and keeping it between his hands. "I'm surprised are."

"Actually I'm ambidextrous."

"Really?" Ronald asked in astonishment, partly at this new piece of information and partly at the fact that William was telling him this.

"Yes. Do you need help?"

"Are you finished?"

William sighed. "It's surprising, isn't it?" He pulled up a chair and sat beside the young reaper. He picked up a pen and read through the first half of the poorly filled report. "Maria Fitzgerald. Tell me about her."

"Er, wife of a car salesman, had two sons and a daughter who died in 'mysterious circumstances'..."

It didn't take as long as Ronald had expected it to. He didn't expect the following conversation to take place either.

**The conversation shall take place in the following chapter. :D**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I still can't do italics the ao3 way, I have to sit and write every single code things for italics, bold etcetera.. grr argh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: This is another pure speech one as in this particularly chapter what's being said is the most important. In each bit, William is the first person who speaks. Every time.**

**I made William have pets for the pure reason that Takuya - who played William in the first run of The Most Beautiful Death in the World - has pictures of him with rabbits and cats. I thought it was adorable.**

* * *

 

"I understand if you're stressed, and I understand that you're recovering. If you need help with anything, you only need to ask. "

"What about you? You're stressed. You're recovering. What if you need help?"

"You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine."

"Fine, if you don't want to talk to me, but you need to talk to someone."

"The person I would have spoken to in this situation isn't here to talk to."

"Have you cried yet?"

"Why are you so obsessed with me crying?"

"Because it helps... Go on, tell me the scientific explanation for it."

"It releases endorphins. We all deal with grief in different ways."

"Yeah, and yours seems to be ignoring it! You don't need to keep up appearances for us."

"... It took a lot for me to admit that I'm grieving. I'm not choosing to ignore it, but you've known me long enough to know I'm not the most emotional person you could meet."

"Well, we're finished for the day. Why don't we talk?"

"Talk?"

"Yeah, you know, move our mouths and release sounds."

"Alright... let's talk.

* * *

 

"I named my rabbit after Magneto."

"You're kidding?"

"I'm not. When I bought him, his name was Eric... I had to rename him because for starters having a pet with the same name as a co-worker is weird, but more importantly... Eric is a boring name for a rabbit."

"That's true. Do you have any other pets? I can just imagine you with a house full of animals."

"Oh, where do I start? I have a cat. A bengal."

"Really? What's his, her, name?

"His. Don't laugh."

"I won't."

"I named him Snarf."

"Oh I see... you're a geek!"

"I am, I am a geek. I have a rat called Splinter and a bearded dragon called Smaug. I did have another rabbit called Bugs but he turned out to be a she."

"You didn't check?"

"Well contrary to popular belief, I don't make a habit of going around checking the gender of animals. But anyway, you also have a rabbit."

"I do. Millie."

"Millie?"

"After Millie the Model."

"And you call me a geek."

"How is that any more geeky than you?"

"Magneto means I watch films, Millie the Model means you read comics."

"But you knew who Milly the Model was!"

"Maybe I know Millie the Model from the Big Bang Theory."

"Then you admit you watch the Big Bang Theory."

"It follows How I Met Your Mother."

"I can't believe you watch TV."

"What did you think I did?"

"I thought you were... a reverse vampire."

"A reverse vampire?"

"Okay, I admit that was rubbish, but still... You don't look like someone who names pets after characters from Marvel comics and the Hobbit... Are you a Trekkie?"

"A Trekkie?"

"It's okay. I own a Phaser, I'm allowed to use that word."

"...I have a dog called Scotty."

"I knew it. What breed?"

"Well, I bought a Scottie dog so I could name him Scotty and no-one would question. Then I realised I'm very antisocial and I could have named anything Scotty without having people question."

"Besides, I think if anyone was to question it would be 'what happened to your creativeness?' And also, Scotty is weird but Smaug and Magneto are okay? Is there anything else I should know about?"

"... I have a python called Monty."

"That's just sad."

\--imaginary page break--

**I know William may seem out of character at this point, but I have my reasons.**

**1\. We only know William when he's at work... Also, 'geeks' are the best people on Earth.**

**2\. They've all been though something traumatic, they've lost a co-worker and a friend. They're allowed to act out a bit.**

**I'm sorry if I have offended anyone, but I too am a fellow Trekkie and therefore I'm allowed to use that word.**


	5. Chapter 5

"So Jessie's been captured, but on the other hand we _do_ have Grell's cinematic record. Think you can... do your thing?"

"It would be my pleasure." A soft, German voice replied. He lowered his gaze.

"Thank you, Rudgar." Evangeline smiled.

* * *

 

Rudgar looked through Grell's entire cinematic record three times - the best he could, at least. His glasses had smashed and he had been unable to replace them.

He'd been awake for three days and he was exhausted. He felt like there were thousands of tiny hammers hitting his skull and there were two giant needles in his eyes.

 _Sleep deprivation messes with your head,_ he thought, _how do they expect me to think clearly?_

In the end, he'd separated the cinematic record into two sections. One he'd placed in the center of the table, the other he'd hidden.

"It's all here. There's no trace of... reaper."

Evangeline smiled and took the book. "Great. What about the rest of it?"

He rubbed his eyes before replying. "I, er, I destroyed it. There's no chance of anyone recovering it."

"Great... come with me." She grabbed his arm and pulled him from the chair. He swayed, but he was pushed out of the room before he was able to fall.

* * *

 

The body of the red reaper had been placed on a metal table. He looked peaceful. He looked like someone Rudgar could have been friends with.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. And I'm sorry to have to do this to you. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

His fingers traced the book slowly before opening it. The ordinarily dark room lit up, it was so bright Rudgar's eyes were beginning to sting. He hadn't seen any natural light for months - it felt as though he was leaving the cinema midday after watching a three hour long film.

"I'm so sorry."

* * *

 

_Grell tripped over his own feet, falling to the floor and dropping the tray. The expensive clay pots smashed around him._

_"Oh no, not again."_

_He pushed himself up to his knees and began collecting the pieces of clay._

_"Here, let me help." A friendly voice offered. The young gardener knelt down beside the trembling butler and picked up a few pieces._

_"Oh, you don't need to do that."_

_The gardener smiled. "It's fine, I'd like to help."_

_Grell returned the smile. "You're too kind. Thank you."_

_"Oh, think nothing of it."_

* * *

 

_Every single piece had been collected and placed on the silver tray. Grell was about to take it, but Finny picked it up instead - it would have done neither of them any good if he'd have dropped them again._

_"Come on, let's try again."_

_Grell smiled and followed the gardener to the kitchens._

"Hmm, I wonder." He skipped ahead.

**Rudgar and Sascha are actual characters from the manga. I was trying a new editing thing. I didn't want to write a really long chapter if it ended up not working. I think it's worked though.**


End file.
